Man Killed In Burlington House Fire; Elderly Mother Rescued
BURLINGTON (CBS) – A man in his 50s was killed in a house fire on Maryvale Road in Burlington Thursday afternoon. The victim's elderly mother was rescued by a neighbor and a delivery driver.
The woman was taken to a hospital with serious injuries. The delivery driver who helped her escape was also taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation, along with a Burlington police officer.
Firefighters arrived to find heavy fire conditions inside the home at about 1:00 p.m. The man was found dead inside the home.
The Burlington fire chief believes the fire started in the man's bedroom.
"Unfortunately heavy fire conditions did not allow us to get into where the main body of fire was," Burlington Fire Chief Michael Patterson said. "At the time it looked like the fire was taking hold of the house."
Firefighters quickly knocked down the bulk of the flames, but the house was heavily damaged by the fire.
"I never seen so much black smoke in my life it was pretty scary," said neighbor Cheryl Janes, who lives next door and called 911. "She's OK. She's in shock. She kept asking me where her son is."
The man who died was fighting cancer and neighbors wonder if that kept him from escaping after his elderly mother was rescued.
"He was a great musician, and he was a really good painter, very creative, funny you know just a really nice guy," said neighbor Gary Spezzaferri.
The fire is under investigation by the Burlington Fire Department and State Police assigned to both the Office of the State Fire Marshal and to the Middlesex County District Attorney.
